1. Bill targets ultralight smuggling
2. Rep. releases video honoring slain agent
3. Illegal re-entry tops all federal charges
4. Ruling over PA town's immigration law vacated
5. Illegal aliens decline in some CA counties

1.
Bill targets ultralight drug smuggling
The Associated Press, August 3, 2011

New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall is co-sponsoring a bill to crack down on smugglers who are increasingly using ultralight aircraft to bring drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The legislation would close a loophole in current law that gives smugglers who use ultralights lesser penalties than those who use airplanes or cars. Border authorities say Mexican organized crime groups are increasingly using the aircraft to drop marijuana bundles in agricultural fields and desert scrub across the U.S. border.

Udall, a Democrat, introduced the legislation with Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller.

The legislation passed overwhelmingly in the House last year after being introduced by Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
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http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20110803/Bill-targets-ultra...

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2.
Issa Releases Video Honoring Slain Border Agent Brian Terry
Newsmax, August 3, 2011

Rep. Darrell Issa released a video today honoring Brian Terry, the U.S. Border Patrol agent slain in December with a gun allegedly involved in the federal gun-running scheme dubbed "Operation Fast and Furious."

The California Republican, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform, and Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley are spearheading an investigation into Fast and Furious and other campaigns in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allowed guns to go to drug kingpins in the hopes that they would lead to violent Mexican cartel leaders.

The ATF operations backfired, and some of the firearms were used in crimes. The ATF now admits that it lost track of most of the 2,000 weapons, and two of the crimes in which some of the guns were used included the murders of Terry and immigration officer Jaime Zapata.

Last week, Issa introduced the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act of 2011 to rename the Bisbee, Ariz., Border Patrol station in honor of Terry.

"Our nation's Border Patrol agents have a distinguished history of working to protect our borders. agent Terry, who served our nation through his military service and his career with the Border Patrol, gave his life defending this country. Naming the Bisbee station in his honor recognizes his sacrifice, service and heroism," Issa said in announcing the act.

The memorial bill, H.R. 2668, has 52 Republican and Democratic cosponsors, including principal cosponsor Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Terry's family issued a statement saying, "From the very start, Brian loved his job as a Border Patrol agent and loved his fellow agents. The new Naco Station named in Brian's honor will serve as a lasting memory for all those who knew Brian."
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http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Issa-Terry-border-FastandFurious/2011...

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3.
Illegal re-entry tops all federal charges
By Cristina Rayas
Cronkite News Service, August 3, 2011

Illegal re-entry became the most frequent, federal criminal charge in the United States during the first six months of fiscal year 2011, a pattern that was mirrored in Arizona during that period.

From October through March, federal prosecutors filed 18,552 illegal re-entry cases nationally, more than any other charge, according to data compiled by the non-profit Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

First-time immigration prosecutions edged back into the lead in April, but TRAC attributed that to seasonal fluctuations. It said illegal re-entry cases this year will be 3.5 percent higher than 2010 if prosecutions continue at the current pace.

TRAC said Arizona had 8,968 illegal re-entry cases filed through the end of April. At that pace, it estimated that re-entry cases would increase 12.8 percent in Arizona from last year and 214 percent from five years ago.

The increase in re-entry prosecutions comes as the number of immigration apprehensions is falling. That means the odds of being criminally prosecuted, once caught, have increased, according to TRAC, which analyzes Justice Department data.

Experts attribute the rise in cases to various factors - such as new prosecutorial tools and a decision to use those tools aggressively.

Daniel Griswold, director of the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, said fewer people are crossing the border because "the bottom fell out of the economy" here. Those who do cross the border are more likely to be coming back, he said.

"People re-entering may already have strong ties here, an employment record, family," he said. "The impulse of them to re-enter the United States may be stronger."

Authorities said another factor is Operation Streamline, a federal effort launched in 2005 to prosecute immigrants criminally before deporting them the first time.

If they are caught re-entering the United States illegally again, they can then be prosecuted on felony charges. Those carry a maximum 20-year sentence, but TRAC said the average sentence for illegal re-entry cases is 14 months.

Operation Streamline processes 70 to 100 immigrants a day in federal courtrooms in Tucson, said Victoria Brambl, attorney supervisor at the Tucson Public Defenders office. And that doesn't include the non-immigration cases.

"Everybody is straining under the numbers," Brambl said. "And judges have been inundated."

Almost all defendants in immigration cases need public defenders, she said.

TRAC estimates that 98 percent of all illegal-entry prosecutions - re-entry and first time - are a result of Border Patrol investigations.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tucson confirmed that there are more illegal re-entry prosecutions.

"We do what we can with the resources that we have," said Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
. . .
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2011/08/03/20110...

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4.
Ruling over Pa. town's immigration law vacated
The Associated Press, August 3, 2011

A federal appeals court has vacated its ruling that declared a northeastern Pennsylvania city's illegal immigration law to be unconstitutional, setting the stage for a new round of arguments.

The move by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday was expected after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered it to take another look at Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act.

The appeals court had blocked Hazleton from enforcing regulations that would deny permits to business that hire illegal immigrants and fine landlords who rent to them, saying they usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.

The Supreme Court threw out the appeals court ruling in June after the justices upheld a similar employer-sanctions law in Arizona.

Officials in Hazleton have argued that illegal immigrants brought drugs, crime and gangs to the city of about 25,000, overwhelming police, schools and hospitals. The city's 2006 Illegal Immigration Relief Act inspired similar laws around the country, including the one in Arizona.

A companion measure would require prospective tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.

The laws have never been enforced. Hispanic groups and illegal immigrants sued to overturn the measures, and a federal judge struck them down following a trial in 2007.

Friday's order from the 3rd Circuit does not mean that Hazleton can begin implementing the laws. The district court's ruling remains in force.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h69TspK-JX3wr72yMrWSaz...

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5.
Illegal immigrants decline in some California counties
Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2011

Despite concerns about illegal immigrants in the California labor market, a new report shows that their number has declined in the most heavily populated areas in California during the last decade.

The population of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County fell by 8,000 between 2001 and 2008, according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California, which uses the term "unauthorized immigrants." In Orange County, the population of illegal immigrants fell by 60,000. And in Santa Clara County, it fell by 61,000.

"After many years of increases, the number of California's unauthorized immigrants has remained stable or even declined slightly recently," says the report, written by Laura E. Hill and Hans P. Johnson. "At the same time, the number living in other states has increased substantially compared to California."

States such as Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina have seen significant increases in their illegal immigrant population, as California's stays stagnant or even shrinks.

The report tracks illegal immigrants by ITIN filings, which are federal tax filings for people without Social Security numbers. Economists estimate that about 80% of illegal immigrants have filed federal tax returns.

The PPIC study shows that in 2008, illegal immigrants made up a share of the population in nearly every California county, including Imperial (12.8% of the population), Fresno (5.3%) and Napa (12%).

But those numbers shrank in some areas. Other counties that lost illegal immigrants from 2001 to 2008 include Alameda, Marin and San Francisco, while Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties all added them.

The economic effects of these changes remain to be seen. Some economists argue that illegal immigrants increase the economic output of the places where they live, but have flooded the market as low-skilled workers competing for the same jobs. It is unclear whether those low-skilled workers will be willing to do jobs traditionally filled by illegal immigrants in the agricultural and service sectors.
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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/08/illegal-immigration-cal...

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